Why does McDonald's in Hadley want to cross Route 9? To get to the other side

HADLEY – The owners of the McDonald’s on the south side of Route 9 want to tear down the restaurant and build a new one on the north side, closer to Home Depot.

McDonald’s representatives presented two possible designs for the new restaurant to the Hadley Planning Board on March 2, said member William Dwyer. The restaurant wants to occupy the site of Competitive Edge Ski & Bike, across Route 9 from the eatery’s current site and adjacent to Wendy’s, he said.

The restaurant wants to have access to North Maple Street, where one of the entrances to Home Depot is, Dwyer said. Representatives did not present a time line for the move, he said.

Will Lebrun, director of operations for McDonald’s in Franklin and Hampshire counties, said the existing restaurant in Hadley is 46 years old. He said many McDonald’s sites have been renovated over the past two years to a new design called “Forever Young,” and the new restaurant will look like the one on Memorial Drive in Chicopee.

“Our customer base will appreciate the new look,” he said. “Change is good.”

The new restaurant will have the same capacity but will have a new decor and new equipment, and it will be more energy-efficient, Lebrun said.

But the company’s purchase of the Competitive Edge property has not been finalized, he said.

The transaction is “up in the air,” said Jim Kennedy, who with his brother, Gary, owns Competitive Edge stores in Hadley, Holyoke and East Longmeadow.

But he confirmed that McDonald’s approached the two brothers about buying their property at 374 Russell St., and arranged for a percolation test that was performed Thursday.

“We’re negotiating the terms of the sale, which is contingent on a lot of things,” Kennedy said. He added, “We would like it to work out.”

Competitive Edge, which also has a snowboard store in Easthampton, has been looking for a bigger location in Hadley, he said. Two years ago, the brothers considered moving to the site of Amherst Drop Zone, but the deal did not work out, and they’ve also looked at building a larger store on the existing site, he said.” Our intention is to continue in Hadley and service all our customers there as well,” Kennedy said.